


Dark Thoughts

by Carlos Danger (Talon88)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 09:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17722760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talon88/pseuds/Carlos%20Danger
Summary: I was wondering how Kylo Ren found his grandfather's helmet/facemask.   This is a short one-shot depicting his search.





	Dark Thoughts

**_29 Years After the Battle of Endor_ **

The frantic ewok squeals and the stench of burning hair gave Lord Ren a headache. His command shuttle was not on Endor more than ten minutes before these annoying diminutive creatures swarmed his ship brandishing bolas, spears and rocks. Apparently they were angry with Ren's scouting party that arrived a day earlier and ended up killing a few of their clansmen. Ren grinned under his mask. It was probably a little more than a few. Rumor has it the men used the furry locals for target practice.

The army of rambunctious ewoks was quickly eradicated by four flametroopers who exited the boarding ramp spraying out burning fuel that blackened the trees, destroyed their huts and left smoldering bodies littering the landscape.

Lord Ren strode down the ramp as his troopers kicked the burning bodies out of his way. He looked down at his datapad map and then to the smoldering remains of the tree huts as he attempted to orientate himself. His uncle once told him he had cremated the remains of Darth Vader on the outskirts of the ewok village, but didn't specify further. "Captain Phasma!"

A hulking Stormtrooper garbed with distinctive silver armor approached. "Yes Lord Ren." He noticed that she kept at a respectable distance from him. He didn't believe it was out of fear, but that she somehow knew he didn't like the fact that she was at least five centimeters taller than him and outweighed him by a considerable amount. He was told she was a near human from a high gravity world that produced some of the tallest and strongest beings in the galaxy. He never bothered verifying the information. He had little interest in the lives of his subordinates.

He swept his arm out toward the perimeter of the village. "Have your stormtroopers fan out and look for anything that could be remains of a funeral pyre."

"Yes, Lord Ren." She turned and gestured to a squad of troopers giving them orders over their helmet comlinks.

He knew there was little chance that the troopers would find anything after the passing of nearly thirty years. He would have to find the location himself. He pulled in a deep breath under his black helmeted face mask and reached out with the Force, searching for a sign, a hint of darkness. After a moment he felt something in the distance. It was a dark residue. His uncle told him that Darth Vader died as Anakin Skywalker and was restored to the lightside of the Force, but Ren knew objects held the darkness for centuries after the death of the owner. If the remains of Vader's suit were out there the darkside would be apparent.

He quickly moved toward the feeling of darkness until he arrived to a mound of dirt littered with bones, rotting fruit, and reeking of urine and feces. It took him a moment to process what he had found and when he did he was furious that his soldiers had dispatched the ewok villagers so quickly and mercifully.

_The local inhabitants had dumped trash and refuse over the charred remains of his grandfather!_

A cold fury rose up within him as he let out a feral scream. He turned and ignited his lightsaber, looking for something to vent his anger on. He marched over to the closest ewok body and cut it to pieces with his saber until the anger subsided. "Captain Phasma, send men with shovels." He pointed to the garbage dump. "Excavate that pit and look for buried technology or melted plastisteel."

He paced while scowling under his helmet. This was just another injustice heaped upon his grandfather. He knew all about the horrible propaganda waged against Darth Vader. He has researched the history of the Dark Lord with a fanatic passion since he was old enough to read Basic. According to recovered databases the Jedi believed Anakin Skywalker was the  _Chosen One_ —the man who would bring balance to the Force. And he did. He destroyed the Jedi with all of their pompous platitudes and installed a firm and decisive leader to rule the galaxy. It wasn't until Vader's son reappeared that the Dark Lord became weak from the light side of the Force. Luke Skywalker corrupted Vader and turned him against the true leader of the Empire. In the end it cost him his life and the galaxy was thrown into chaos with The First Order, the New Republic and the Resistance all vying for power. Somebody needed to end this madness and bring order to the galaxy. This was his grandfather's goal. He clearly stated his purpose to Luke Skywalker while on Bespin. If his uncle listened to reason and join Vader millions and millions of people over the past thirty years could have been saved.

"We have something Lord Ren," Captain Phasma stated as she walked toward Kylo with something black and melted in her hands.

Kylo reached out and plucked the charred remains of Lord Vader's helmet out of her hands. "This is it." He looked up and smiled, knowing his joy was hidden under his mask. "Have them keep digging and bring anything else of this nature to me. See if they can find a lightsaber."

He clutched the deformed remains of the helmet in his hands and returned to his shuttle's cabin. He stepped up to the cabin's desk and gently placed the helmet on the table and then stepped back to gaze at the artifact in wonder.

"Finally, I have something material to bind me to you grandfather." He sat down in his desk chair and stared at the misshapen plastisteel with reverence. "I will never forgive my parents for naming me after that feeble Jedi Ben Kenobi. It was an unforgivable and cruel joke to make me the namesake of the man who stole your children and robbed you of your legacy."

Kylo fought down the urge to take his blade and destroy something. He should be happy at this find, but the anger against his parents still simmered. It was an agonizing undercurrent that was always present. "I was the first born. I should have been the one named after you, but instead…instead fifteen years after my birth they had another child. A boy who they named they Anakin!" He pointed to the helmet as he stood and paced his office. "It was bad enough that I am named after your nemesis, but they had the nerve to bear another child and give him a name that was rightly mine!"

He stopped and blew out a breath before removing his own helmet and tossing it over to his bunk. He lifted Vader's helmet and cradled it like a newborn child. "Anakin Solo was so small, so helpless." He put a hand over the helmet, pantomiming a fifteen-year-old fratricidal scene in his mind. "And crib death is so common." His expression hardened as he placed the helmet on the desk. "After that, things were never the same. Not with me and not with my parents. They sent me away permanently to live with Uncle Luke. I doubt they suspected me of any wrong doing, but they couldn't function as parents. They gave up and abandoned me." He gave a gesture of disgust. "You can't abandon pain and think it won't return to haunt you." He ran a hand through his thick dark hair and gave a caustic laugh. "They abandoned me…so they had to be taught a lesson. A lesson in abandonment." He smiled in grim amusement. "I hope my family enjoyed that lesson."

He leaned over the helmet, scrutinizing the warped remains while tracing a finger along the edge of the optical openings. "Grandfather, I will fulfill your destiny. With the death of the Jedi I will bring balance to the Force once again. And then I will find my parents and bring balance to my life."

 


End file.
